


Red Frosting

by GoldenDaydreams



Series: The Rest is Confetti [2]
Category: The Haunting of Hill House (TV 2018)
Genre: Buying Something For Baby Crain, Clairvoyance, Fluff, Gen, Kind of Takes Place During Epilogue, Luke Is A Good Brother-In-Law, Mentions of addiction, Post-Series, Sibling Bonding, We All Deserve Something Nice After The Show, haunted, roll with it, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 02:05:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16822963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenDaydreams/pseuds/GoldenDaydreams
Summary: "Oh! What do you think of this one?" Leigh held up a grey unisex sweater."It's great," Luke said. With having three sisters, he'd learned that was always the safest answer.Luke runs errands with Leigh. General family bonding ensues.





	Red Frosting

Luke followed behind Leigh, as the heavily pregnant woman walked around the children's clothing stores picking up various cute outfits she just had to have. Steve had a book signing, and it was Luke's off day, so he'd got stuck carrying bags. He didn't mind. He enjoyed spending time with Leigh. In a way, she reminded him a little of Shirley, and he missed his older sister.   
  
"Oh! What do you think of this one?" Leigh held up a grey unisex sweater.   
  
"It's great," he said. With having three sisters, he'd learned that was always the safest answer.   
  
She tossed it into the basket he carried.   
  
"Can I help you two find anything?" One of the sales clerks asked with a polite smile.   
  
"We're just looking around, everything is so cute," Leigh gushed. The baby was her joy, and talking about it never failed to bring her out of her more serious persona.   
  
"When are you due?" the clerk asked.   
  
"Six more weeks," Leigh rubbed her hand over her stomach.   
  
"Such an exciting time," she said, then glanced at Luke. "Enjoy the sleep while you can."   
  
"Oh," Luke blinked. "We aren't together."   
  
"He's my brother-in-law," Leigh said at the clerk's confused expression. "Lucky to have him around."   
  
The clerk looked at the near overflowing basket with a grin. "It appears so. Well, I'll let you get back to it. Let me know if you need anything."   
  
They went to another two stores. It was once again assumed that Luke was the father. He ended up having six boutique bags in his hands, full of clothes for the child, little stuffed toys, and bibs with cute sayings. None of it was heavy, but the multiple bags made it difficult to navigate the malls of the hall with out bumping into someone.   
  
"I feel like I'm forgetting something important," Leigh said as they walked out to the car. "It would help if I could see the nursery."   
  
"Nope, not happening," Luke said, shifting all the bags to one hand and fishing the keys out of the pocket of his jeans. He unlocked the trunk and stuck the bags inside. Leigh checked her watch for the hundredth time. "Got some place you need to be?"   
  
"Just thinking about what to make for dinner, but Steve won't be back for a while yet." She walked to the passengers side door. "There is this boutique my friend was telling me about, they sell all kinds of unique, one of a kind items. It wouldn't hurt to look."   
  
"Okay, where is it?"   
  
Leigh guided the way, and kept flicking between radio stations, eventually settling on a rap with more curses than anything- she immediately sang along. His jaw dropped, and he looked to Leigh, then back at the road, back to Leigh, and back at the road.   
  
"What?" she asked with a laugh when she caught him looking.   
  
"Who are you, and what have you done with Leigh?" he laughed. "You think you know someone..."   
  
"It's a good song."   
  
"It's inappropriate, and the baby can hear it," Luke said, unable to keep a straight face.   
  
"He better get used to it."   
  
"She."   
  
"One day soon we will find out which one of us is right."   
  
"It's me," Luke said.   
  
"Turn right at the lights, and we will see."   
  
His finger hit the indicator, and he waited for the light to turn green, stuck behind a car trying to go straight. They drove the rest of the way to the boutique, which was down a busy street with little parking. He leaned forward in his seat, as if that would help him magically locate an empty spot. They ended up circling the block three times before a car pulled out and he parallel parked into the space. From there, they had to walk a good five minutes to the store.   
  
The scent of sandalwood hit his nose the second they entered. He looked around for an incense burner, but saw none. As quick as the scent had come, it faded away to nothing, making him wonder if he'd imagined the whole thing.   
  
"Oh, look," Leigh ran her fingers over a white dresser that doubled as a changing table. "The flowers are hand-painted."   
  
"They're great," Luke replied with a grin.   
  
"You say that about everything."   
  
"You have great taste."   
  
She laughed and kept walking around the store, Luke following like a shadow. She picked up things here and there, commenting, but putting them back down. "Maybe when I know what the nursery looks like-" she side-eyed him.   
  
"Take it up with your husband," Luke said, putting his hands up in defense.   
  
They were about to leave when the scent caught Luke's attention again, something subtle in it's difference. Something light, floral, something he knew he should know but couldn't place. "Just..." he turned. "One minute."  
  
"Did something catch your eye?" Leigh asked as she followed him back into the store.   
  
"Something like that," Luke muttered. The store wasn't set up in neat organized racks, it was a mess of furniture, false partitions making up pretend rooms. He almost walked past, but saw something out of the corner of his eye. He stopped, took a full step back and stood in the doorway of the false room.   
  
Inside the furniture was dark wood, a pink bunny sat in the crib, a bold yellow blanket was draped over the back of a rocking chair, a fuzzy white rug on the floor. None of that mattered. Nell stood in a soft pink, floor length dress in front of a shelf. She turned and smiled at him. "Every little girl needs a cup of stars."   
  
Luke walked up beside the apparition. Sure enough, a tea set of pink plastic cups, one decorated with hearts, one with stars.   
  
Luke picked up the dainty little cup, decorated with yellow stars. He turned it over in his hand, and looked to Nell only to find Leigh where she'd once stood. He looked around the room, but the ghost of his sister had gone once again.   
  
"Those are great," Leigh said.   
  
Luke knew she was mocking him, but he had the tea set packed up, and purchased.   
  
Leigh checked the time once again when they left. "You know what, I think we're out of cheese."   
  
"Cheese?"   
  
"Yeah, I'm thinking tacos."   
  
"I have never once said no to tacos."   
  
"No one says no to tacos," Leigh said sagely.  
  
They stopped at the grocery store for cheese, and then Leigh decided that she just had to have these little chocolate tarts for desert, but the best ones were sold at a bakery across town. Luke looked skyward. He enjoyed spending time with Leigh, but this was his only day off and he'd been running errands with her since eleven in the morning.   
  
"Alright, bakery. Any more stops?"   
  
"I don't think so," Leigh said. "Thanks for helping me today. I wouldn't have been able to do it all without you."   
  
He felt bad for the annoyance at the first mention of yet another stop. "No problem, any time," he said, hoping he wasn't setting up a dangerous precedent.   
  
When the arrived at the bakery she went in on her own, insisting he rest like he hadn't been sitting in traffic for the last forty minutes. It took them another hour back as they hit rush hour. Back at the house, Steve's car was already in the driveway. Luke grabbed all the boutique bags, and the grocery bag, while Leigh happily carried a box of her tarts.   
  
She unlocked the door, and opened it, quickly moving to the side only for the room to become a shout of; "SURPRISE!"   
  
He took in the faces, Leigh had made her way to Steven, and he had his arm around her shoulders. Shirley stood with Kevin, their kids Jayden and Allie stood in front of them. Theo was off to the side with Trish both of them beaming wide.   
  
"What... what is going on?" Luke asked, confused. His birthday wasn't for another four months.   
  
"Two years, buddy," Steve said, leaving Leigh's side to take the bags from his brother.   
  
"It's not... it's not a big deal," Luke didn't know what to do with the attention.   
  
"It is," Shirley broke away from the little crowd first. She pulled him into a hug. "I am so proud of you, Luke. Mom, and Dad, and Nell, they would all be so proud of you."   
  
Her words twisted something in his chest, and he held her tight, burying his face on her shoulder, trying to keep from crying. "Thanks," he managed to say, even if his voice was a little watery.   
  
Theo, surprisingly, pulled him into a hug next. Not one of her quick hugs, and she actually ensured skin to skin contact with her hand on the back of his neck. "You did it," Theo whispered. "You brought our brother back."   
  
He'd already been a year sober, he didn't think the second would be such a big deal to his family. "It's good to see you, Theo," he whispered.   
  
"Good to see you too," she leaned back, releasing him, but grabbing his bicep through his sweater. "And damn, you weren't kidding about working out."   
  
Sheepishly, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, thanks."   
  
He shook hands with Kevin. Steve ruffled his hair. "Come on, dinner is ready."   
  
The kids were pretty happy about the trip, and getting to spend time with their aunts and uncles. Theo talked a little about her work. Shirley talked about anything but her work. Kevin mentioned that Jayden had started to play baseball, and the young boy started telling them all about his first real game that was coming up.   
  
It was so normal, and wonderful.   
  
He felt as though he was being watched, but he wasn't afraid.   
  
"Red frosting," words were whispered in his ear- Nell's voice although he never saw her. It didn't make sense, but not everything she said did.   
  
Theo and Kevin ended up clearing the table while Luke was being educated on the finer points of My Little Pony from Allie. Leigh came up behind him with a chocolate cake, a big, gold 2 candle sat on top.   
  
He stared at the cake for a moment, the chocolate frosting, but piped in a dark, red frosting. He shot a playful glare at Leigh. “You made me drive across town in rush hour to pick up my own cake!”  
  
They all laughed.   
  
“And to waste time,” Leigh said.   
  
“Our flight was late,” Trish said.   
  
“Mommy and Uncle Steve burned dinner and they had to order from the take-out place,” Jayden said.   
  
Steve groaned. “I gave you five bucks to keep your mouth shut.”   
  
“You didn’t say for how long,” Jayden replied.   
  
Theo burst out laughing, and high-fived the kid.  
  
::  
  
After everyone went to bed, everyone exhausted from the travel, and the manic preparations, Luke brought his bag from the shop into the nursery. It looked more put together now that the white crib was stationed against the wall. The rest of the furniture was on back-order, but would be in within the next two weeks. There was a box of parts for a bookshelf they hadn’t yet set up.   
  
He sat by the long box and brought out the box of tea cups.   
  
He sat the plastic pot down first.   
  
The cup of hearts in front of himself.   
  
The cup of stars on the other side of the box.   
  
He closed his eyes.   
  
“It’s a good gift,” Nell’s voice was little more than a soft whisper. “Every little girl likes a tea party.” Luke smiled, opening his eyes to find Nell in front of him, looking alive if not a little grey. She reached out and her touch made his skin tingle, the sensation of pins and needles along his jaw. “I am proud of you.”   
  
He took a deep breath, staring for as long as he could, until his eyes burned, and watered. He blinked, and she was gone.   
  



End file.
